Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Marta Kolanowska
Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation, University of Gdańsk. Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland.
martakolanowska@wp.pl
Abstract. The floristic, geographical and ecological analysis of the orchid flora of the department of Valle del Cauca
are presented. The study area is located in the southwestern Colombia and it covers about 22 140 km2 of land across
4 physiographic units. All analysis are based on the fieldwork and on the revision of the herbarium material. A list of
572 orchid species occurring in the department of Valle del Cauca is presented. Two species, Arundina graminifolia
and Vanilla planifolia, are non-native elements of the studied orchid flora. The greatest species diversity is observed
in the montane regions of the study area, especially in wet montane forest. The department of Valle del Cauca is
characterized by the high level of endemism and domination of the transitional elements within the studied flora. The
main problems encountered during the research are discussed in the context of tropical floristic studies.
Resumen. Se presentan los resultados de los estudios geográfico, ecológico y florístico de la orquideoflora del
departamento colombiano del Valle del Cauca. El área de estudio está ubicada al suroccidente de Colombia y cubre
aproximadamente 22 140 km2 de tierra a través de 4 unidades fisiográficas. Todos los análisis aquí presentados se
llevaron a cabo basándose en trabajo de campo y en la revisión de material de herbario. Se presenta la lista de las 572
especies de orquídeas que se presentan en el departamento de Valle del Cauca. Dos de ellas, Arundina graminifolia
y Vanilla planifolia, son elementos no nativos de la flora de orquídeas estudiada. La mayor diversidad de especies
se observa en las regiones montañosas de la zona de estudio, sobre todo en los bosques montanos húmedos. El
departamento de Valle del Cauca se caracteriza por el alto nivel de endemismo y la dominancia de elementos de
transición en la flora estudiada. Los principales problemas encontrados durante la investigación se discuten en el
contexto de los estudios florísticos tropicales.
Introduction plants accounts for over 24 000 species with the best
representation observed within the Orchidaceae family
The vast majority of plant species are concentrated (Jørgensen et al., 2011). Previous work by Ortiz and
in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Uribe (2007) included over 3 200 species and 4 years
One of the most important tasks for the scientists today later this number was elevated to over 3 500 by Jørgensen
is to describe the biodiversity of these areas, in which et al. (2011). Unfortunately, only the orchid flora of the
the researchers face the interactions of environmental, department of Antioquia has been catalogued so far
economic and social problems. (Idárraga-Piedrahita et al., 2011).
The Republic of Colombia, containing about 10% of the The aim of the present study was to prepare a complete
known species in the world, is one of the most biodiverse catalog of Orchidaceae occurring in the department of Valle
countries on Earth. Nearly 30% of the vascular plants del Cauca, which is one of the most poorly floristically
occurring in Colombia are endemic. Unfortunately, the known regions of Colombia, encompassing at the same
economic and social problems associated with development time 4 important physiographic units.
in the last 2 decades has resulted in a noticeable habitat The department of Valle del Cauca occupies about
loss and the threat of the national biodiversity. 22 140 km2 in southwestern Colombia (Fig. 1) constituting
The extraordinary flora of the Colombian vascular about 2% of the country’s territory. It extends from the
Pacific lowlands across the Western Cordillera and the
valley of the upper Cauca river to the western slope of
Recibido: 30 julio 2012; aceptado: 15 noviembre 2013 the Central Cordillera (3°05’-5°01’ N, 75°42’-77°33’ W).
446 Kolanowska.- Orchids of the department of Valle del Cauca
Figure 2. Orchidaceae of the department of Valle del Cauca in the Colombian orchid flora.
The occurrence of 14 Orchidaceae species was reported (over 63 000 km2) than the department of Valle del Cauca
from the areas of orchards. Most of them were found in and it is located within completely different physiographic
abandoned cocoa plantations. A smaller number of taxa are units (eg. Carribean coast, Darién gap) it is not comparable
related to Coffea and Citrus orchards. In the tea (Camellia) with the studied area. Noteworthy is that in the department
and rubber (Hevea) plantations the occurrence of a single of Antioquia there is a high level of endemism within
species was recorded (Table 1). the orchid flora –over 25% of Orchidaceae is known
exclusively from this region (Idárraga-Piedrahita et al.,
Discussion 2011).
No data exists on the orchid species richness of other
As mentioned before, a complete list of orchid species Colombian physiographic or administrative units. So far
has been compiled only for the department of Antioquia. studies on Orchidaceae has been conducted in relatively
As the territory of this administrative unit is much larger small areas (e.g. Kolanowska et al. 2011; Misas Urreta,
Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 85: 445-462, 2014
DOI: 10.7550/rmb.32511 449
2005, Santa Jiménez et al., 2009). Since the floral in the previously published studies (eg. Ortiz and Uribe,
composition, as well as biogeographical and ecological 2007).
aspects of Colombian orchid flora are still poorly The number of field studies conducted in Colombia is
recognized, the necessity to intensify the comprehensive very limited, even if it seems that the financial resources
research is unquestionable. allocated in nature conservation, including research, are
The geological history and current habitat continuity not directly related to this fact (Galán and Canal, 2002).
observed in the equatorial direction, make the Pacific The scarce number of field studies seems to be connected
region and the Andes dispersal routes for many orchid with 2 other factors. The first one is the specificity of
species. The department of Valle del Cauca, which the tropical vegetation - many regions of Colombia are
embraces both the Pacific lowlands and the chains of the basically inaccessible to scientists because of the complete
Western and Central Cordilleras, is therefore a region rich lack of communication routes, or to temporarily cutting
in transitional taxa originating from both Central America off those areas from the nearest human settlements. In the
and the central part of South America. department of Valle del Cauca the problem is noticeable
Our results confirme the information regarding in the southern part of the Buenaventura district, which
the concentration of Orchidaceae in the montane areas is almost completely devoid of terrestrial roads. Getting
(Vareschi, 1976). In the study area the occurrence of about into many regions of this area in the rainy season is not
70% (391 species) of orchids was observed above 1 200 possible due to the high water levels in the rivers, which
m altitude, while in the lowlands and uplands only 104 intersect the entire territory of the district. On the other
species were recorded. Moreover, only 10 endemic species hand, the terrorist and drug cartel threat is still high in
were found below 700 m altitude. many Colombian regions. The most dangerous areas, in
The greatest threat to the existing orchid populations this aspect, are the high-montane areas of the Western
is the increase in agricultural areas, mainly sugar cane Cordillera. In the department of Valle del Cauca, field
crops and pasturelands. Due to the intensive logging of studies are not conducted for safety reasons (paramilitary
tropical dry forests which began in the 1960’s (Bolívar et threats), i.e. in the Páramo de Bavaya (Central Cordillera),
al., 2004), the poorest Orchid flora is now observed within where the last floristic studies were conducted in 1946 by
the valley of Cauca river area. José Cuatrecasas.
Orchid flora of the department of Valle del Cauca, This limited fieldwork results in insufficient floristic
which covers less than 2% of the Colombia’s territory, documentation of the tropical regions, hence the results
is extremely rich –572 species found in the study area of the research based only on herbarium material revision
represent about 16% of the national Orchid Flora. At the seems to not reflect the entire diversity of Colombian
same time, the observed level of endemism is very high plant species, including orchids. For the same reason, the
(13%). However, there is a huge possibility that the actual geographical ranges of taxa may be underestimated, or
number of orchid species occurring in the Republic of seem to be disjunct.
Colombia is much higher than the numbers that appear Another issue is the correct identification of the
herbarium material. The errors in the determination of Espinal, S. and M. Montenegro. 1980. Zonas de vida o
specimens results in copying from the available literature formaciones vegetales de Colombia, Memoria explicativa
false information about the number and the distribution of sobre el mapa ecológico de Colombia. Instituto Geográfico
many taxa. Within the herbarium material collected in the “Agustín Codazzi”, Departamento Agrológico, Imprenta
department of Valle del Cauca many errors of identification Canal Ramírez, Bogotá. 201 p.
Etter, A. 1998. Mapa general de ecosistemas de Colombia.
were uncovered among specimens representing 23 species
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander
of Orchidaceae.
von Humboldt, Ministerio del Ambiente, Programa de las
Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, PNUMA, Pontificia
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Appendix. Alphabetical list of orchids occurring in the Department of Valle del Cauca with their taxonomic affinity (Chase and al.
2003), data on their habit (*, endemic species; E, epiphytic; L, lithophytic; T, terrestrial; V, vine), information about the directional
(DD, data deficient; Tr, transitional; Es, Eastern; N, Northern; S, Southern; W, Western) and altitudinal elements (DD, data deficient;
Hm, high-montane; Lo, lowland; M, montane; Pr, premontane; P, paramo).